One Claymore
Overview & Key Facts
One Claymore occupies a quiet residential address along Claymore Drive in District 9 — one of the most coveted freehold pockets in Singapore’s Core Central Region. With just 58 units spread across a single boutique block, it represents a deliberate departure from the mega-scale luxury developments that have defined Orchard Road’s skyline in recent decades. The address is understated by Claymore standards: no branded hotel lobby, no celebrity architect, no trophy-marketing. What it offers instead is freehold tenure, genuine exclusivity, and walking distance to Orchard MRT and the Singapore Botanic Gardens UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Claymore Drive itself carries significant residential prestige. The street is flanked by a mix of freehold and long-leasehold developments — including the iconic Claymore Park and the broader Tanglin enclave — that have historically attracted senior professionals, diplomats, and long-term Singapore residents who prioritise discretion over display. One Claymore’s 58-unit scale positions it firmly within this tradition: small enough for genuine community, large enough to justify a full complement of facilities.
Transaction volume is predictably thin for a boutique of this size — just four recorded resale transactions in the dataset, with a median price of S$3,080,000 and an average PSF of approximately S$1,523. That PSF is meaningfully below neighbours such as The Avenir (~S$3,190 psf) and Scotts Square (~S$3,093 psf), reflecting a combination of unit age, building specifications, and the limited resale liquidity that comes with a 58-unit register. For buyers who understand the Claymore sub-market, that discount is part of the appeal.
Location & Connectivity
The locational credentials of One Claymore are among the strongest available to a non-branded CCR residential address. Orchard MRT (North-South Line) is approximately 650 metres on foot — a comfortable walk under shelter for most of the route via Lucky Plaza and the Orchard Road underpass network. The upcoming Orchard TEL station (Thomson-East Coast Line) further enhances connectivity, giving residents a second line and direct access to the CBD, East Coast, and Marina Bay without interchange.
For day-to-day living, the surrounding catchment is unmatched in Singapore. Singapore Botanic Gardens — a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the city’s most beloved green spaces — is less than 700 metres from Claymore Drive, accessible via the Tanglin Gate entrance. Tanglin Mall (Cold Storage, specialty dining, medical clinics) is within a five-minute walk. Orchard Road’s full retail spine — ION Orchard, Ngee Ann City, Mandarin Gallery, Paragon — lies within 800 metres. The American Club, Tanglin Club, and Singapore Island Country Club are all within a short drive, reinforcing the neighbourhood’s appeal to the international professional and diplomatic community.
For international schooling, the address is exceptionally well-positioned. Singapore International School, Overseas Family School, and the ISS International School are all within the broader Orchard-Tanglin catchment. For Singapore Citizens, several prestigious primary schools including Henry Park Primary and Nanyang Primary are accessible via the school bus networks that serve this district. The broader Tanglin-Orchard corridor has historically been one of the highest-demand zones for expatriate family housing precisely because of this schooling infrastructure.
Facilities
For a boutique of 58 units, One Claymore punches well above its weight in facilities. Residents enjoy a swimming pool, gymnasium, function room, and landscaped gardens — the standard complement for a CCR boutique development, executed with the quality finishings expected at this price point. The low resident-to-facility ratio is the real advantage here: the pool and gym are never overrun, booking the function room is a formality rather than a competition, and the gardens maintain the quiet, private atmosphere that draws buyers to small CCR developments in the first place.
“The facilities are modest but always available — you never have to wait for a lane in the pool or fight for a gym slot on weekday evenings. For a couple without children, that’s exactly what we wanted. We came from a 500-unit development and the difference is remarkable.”
— Resident review via PropertyGuru
Buyers expecting the resort-scale amenity breadth of a Grand Dunman or Normanton Park will not find it here. One Claymore does not have a tennis court, clubhouse, or themed lap pool. It is not designed for that market — and the maintenance fee structure reflects this restraint. What it does offer is a properly maintained, low-traffic environment that suits the CCR buyer profile: typically professionals or retirees who seek privacy over programme, and who supplement on-site amenities with memberships at the private clubs that surround the development.
Unit Sizes & Layout
Unit mix data from the available transaction record points to a development weighted toward larger configurations — consistent with the Claymore Drive buyer profile. The two transaction bands in the data (0-bedroom and 1-bedroom categories likely representing studio and 1-BR configurations, or reflecting data classification artefacts for a boutique with custom unit sizes) suggest a development that does not follow the micro-unit playbook common to post-2015 launches. At an average transaction price of S$2.84 million and median of S$3.08 million across four transactions, the implied unit sizes are substantial. PSF of S$1,523 against these price points suggests typical units in the 1,500–2,500 sqft range — generous by contemporary CCR standards and well suited to the target demographic of permanent residents, returning Singaporeans, and senior expatriates seeking a long-term, full-sized home in the Orchard corridor.
The PSF trajectory — S$1,880 psf (year 0), S$1,634 psf (year 1), S$1,523 psf (year 2) — reflects the statistical volatility inherent to a development with only four total transactions in the dataset. A single large unit transacting at below-median PSF can move the average by 10–15% in a register this thin. Buyers should weight these figures accordingly and cross-reference against recent transacted data for comparable CCR freehold boutiques on URA’s REALIS platform before drawing conclusions about trajectory. The fundamentals — freehold tenure, Claymore Drive address, sub-S$1,600 psf in a neighbourhood where peers trade at S$2,500–S$3,200 psf — tell a more compelling story than the four-transaction average.
| Bedrooms | Transactions | Avg PSF | Avg Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 BR | 1 | $2,196 | $2,080,000 |
| 5 BR | 3 | $1,573 | $3,099,333 |
Pricing & Market Position
Based on 4 recorded transactions, sale prices range from $2,080,000 to $3,218,000, averaging $2,844,500 (~$1,523 psf).
Rents range from $4,000 to $9,500 per month across 67 rental transactions. Current rental yield sits at approximately 2.3%.
Price Appreciation
From 2023 to 2025, the average PSF has declined by 19% (from $1,880 to $1,523 psf).
Neighbourhood Comparison
The most direct comparison within District 9 is The Avenir on River Valley Close — also freehold, 376 units, currently averaging ~S$3,190 psf. The Avenir offers a newer build, superior finishings, and a much larger facility complement, but at a price point that is roughly double One Claymore’s in absolute PSF terms. For buyers who want freehold D9 without the S$3,000+ psf price tag, One Claymore represents a credible alternative — accepting older specifications and a smaller amenity suite in exchange for a meaningful discount and a quieter, more intimate address. Kopar at Newton (CDL, 99yr leasehold, ~S$2,512 psf) adds MRT proximity and contemporary finishings but introduces lease decay — a structurally different risk profile for long-term holders. Scotts Square (Wheelock, freehold, ~S$3,093 psf) offers integrated Orchard Road MRT access and hotel-grade facilities at three times the unit count, but trades the private residential feel for a more transient, serviced-residence atmosphere that suits investors over owner-occupiers.
For the specific buyer who wants a large freehold unit on a quiet Orchard-adjacent street, with dual-line MRT access and genuine privacy, and who is comfortable with older finishings and limited resale liquidity, One Claymore has no direct substitute in the current D9 market. The discount to neighbours is structural — driven by age and thin transaction volume — rather than locational. That distinction matters for buyers willing to do their own renovation spend and hold the asset through a market cycle or two.
| Development | Tenure | TOP | Units | ~Avg PSF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ONE CLAYMORE | Freehold | — | 58 | $1,523 |
| IRWELL HILL RESIDENCES | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2020 | 2021 | 540 | $2,726 |
| RIVER GREEN | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2024 | 2025 | 524 | $3,135 |
| RIVER MODERN | 99 years leasehold | — | — | $3,237 |
| THE AVENIR | Freehold | 2021 | 376 | $3,190 |
| KOPAR AT NEWTON | 99 yrs lease commencing from 2019 | 2021 | 378 | $2,512 |
ShiokNest Scores
Our proprietary scoring system evaluates ONE CLAYMORE across multiple dimensions.
What Residents Say
“We’ve lived here for six years and have no intention of leaving. The building is quiet, the neighbours are professional and respectful, and the walk to Botanic Gardens on weekend mornings is genuinely one of the best things about living in Singapore. The pool is always free. You can’t put a price on that in this city.”
— Long-term owner, via EdgeProp
“Honest pros and cons: the building is older and the finishings are not at the same level as new launches on Orchard Boulevard. But the location is faultless, the size of the unit is something you cannot find in a new launch for any reasonable sum, and the freehold status gives me peace of mind for the long term. If you are looking for a luxury show-apartment, look elsewhere. If you want a proper home in Orchard, this is worth very serious consideration.”
— Owner-occupier review via PropertyGuru
“Rental demand here is very specific — senior expats, diplomatic community, couples who want the Orchard address without living in a 500-unit block. It took us three months to find the right tenant but once placed, they stayed two years and renewed. Not the kind of asset for investors chasing quick yield, but for steady, quality tenancy in the long run, the address does the work for you.”
— Investor landlord, via 99.co
The resident profile across review platforms is consistent: owners who purchased for lifestyle rather than yield, who value the private scale and Orchard Road proximity above amenity breadth, and who tend to hold long-term. The absence of negative sentiment around noise, crowding, or management — common friction points in larger CCR developments — is itself meaningful signal. A 58-unit building with aligned, long-term owners generally manages itself well.
Strengths & Weaknesses
- Freehold tenure in prime D9 CCR — permanent land ownership, no lease decay
- Claymore Drive address: UNESCO Botanic Gardens ~650m, Orchard Road ~800m
- Dual-line MRT access: Orchard NSL + Orchard TEL (~650m walk)
- Steep PSF discount vs CCR peers — The Avenir S$3,190 psf vs ~S$1,523 psf here
- Boutique scale (58 units) — pool, gym, and common areas never overrun
- Large unit sizes implied by S$2.8M+ average price at S$1,523 psf
- En-bloc optionality: 58-unit freehold D9 site, 80% consent far more tractable than mega-devs
- Quiet residential street — no expressway noise, low through-traffic
- Strong expatriate and diplomatic rental demand for the Orchard-Tanglin corridor
- International school catchment: multiple international schools within 2km
- Very thin transaction volume (4 sales) — PSF figures statistically unreliable, exit liquidity limited
- Older building specifications — finishings do not match contemporary CCR new launches
- Low gross yield (2.34%) — not a yield play; rental demand is niche and slow to place
- Investment score of 33/100 reflects limited data depth and low liquidity
- Facilities are functional but modest — no tennis court, no themed pool, no clubhouse
- ShiokNest score 54/100 driven partly by thin-data walkability and profitability gaps
- Potential significant renovation budget required to bring unit to contemporary CCR standard
- Small owner community means management decisions require near-consensus, which can slow decisions
Verdict
One Claymore is a niche product in the best sense: a genuinely small freehold development on a prestigious CCR street, transacting at a discount that reflects thin liquidity rather than fundamental weakness. For the right buyer — a permanent resident or returning Singaporean seeking a full-sized, private, walk-to-Orchard home on freehold land — the value case is difficult to argue against. You get a Claymore Drive address, botanic garden proximity, dual-line MRT access (NSL + TEL), and freehold tenure at a PSF that peers would struggle to match without leasehold or location compromises.
The investment calculus is more complex. Gross yield of 2.34% (based on average rent of S$6,013 per month against a median transaction price of S$3,080,000) is below the CCR average and reflects the premium absolute pricing at this address. A buyer acquiring at S$3M+ is not buying a yield play — they are buying scarcity, freehold land in a UNESCO-adjacent Orchard Road pocket, and an en-bloc optionality that a 58-unit site on a prestigious street carries by definition. The investment score of 33/100 and ShiokNest score of 54/100 reflect algorithmic constraints on thin data rather than a verdict on the asset’s long-term positioning; both should be read with that caveat.
The en-bloc score of 44/100 is the figure most worth watching. Claymore Drive land values — should the right consortium emerge — are among the highest in Singapore’s residential land market. A 58-unit development on freehold land in D9 has structural en-bloc viability: achieving the requisite 80% consent threshold across 58 owners is far more tractable than across 540 or 1,145 owners. This is not a guarantee — en-bloc success requires aligned owner profiles, timing, and a development-hungry market — but for buyers with a 10–15-year horizon, it represents a meaningful optionality premium that is not captured in the headline PSF or yield figures.